Administrative Officer Azxaron of Clan Xerbat stood at attention before his superior, both within the Administration and among his own people: Chief Inspector Xzeonia of Clan Xolot.

She was a more authoritarian woman than the average, under the direct orders of Xerina… the new Xerina: for him, as for many, the mother of the current queen would remain the great queen par excellence.

Xerina, in her youth, had freed their people from slavery and led the conquest of the former empire of their masters. They had been secretly serving for thousands of years, providing these slavers with the cutting-edge technology that had allowed the Administration to prosper unmatched. If slavery was forbidden, this member of the Universal Administration practiced it and all those in the know turned a blind eye: the boundless intelligence of these slaves brought them all wealth, technological advances and prosperity, it was well worth sacrificing principles.

Now, thanks to her, their people dominated unchallenged over a good part of a galaxy. She had cleverly countered the Administration’s counterattack by making public the story of their slavery, generating a great wave of indignation across the universe.

The administrative authorities had then pretended to discover the situation. A few heads had rolled, while the others bowed low before all the demands of their people, anxious to maintain their scientific support.

Xerina had founded a large space station that served as the capital of their people and had managed to prevent the governed from having a right of regard on their authoritarian management of the territories taken from the former slavers.

Then, half a century later, the great Xerina had organized a brilliant electoral campaign, playing on the guilt of an infinite society that had exploited her people, managing to get herself elected president of the universe. She had then begun to reform the Administration in depth to reduce its corruption... relatively, since it was not necessary to destroy the advantages acquired by their people... as well as to improve its functioning.

Then, she had been assassinated...

“Are you listening to me Azxaron?”

Straightening up, he turned all his attention to the one in front of him. It was a dream, of course, he was well aware of that: she had not reprimanded him in this way in reality.

“Yes,” she said, “it is a dream. That does not exempt you from listening carefully. I was saying that with the disappearance of our old Xerina, we must continue her work. Our current Xerina is not as gifted as her mother in managing our society, but she can count on the secret services and the Black Guard. The old Xerina may no longer be here, but her work and her will live on. With her death, we have lost supreme power, but we retain a significant influence on the Administration… An influence that could be compromised if some of us opposed certain… necessary actions. Do you remember Xini?”

Of course he remembered. He wasted no time in answering, but she wasted no time in waiting for an answer either.

“As you know, I had her locked up a few years ago, after her dangerous actions.”

Azxaron frowned. He had been assigned to a guard post in temporal stasis: a backup on standby for a secret mission by the administration. In the end, he had not been needed, and when he returned to the present, he had learned of Xini’s banishment from her own clan and her confinement in an administrative prison. He was fairly certain that he had been deliberately left aside, for fear that he would intervene on her behalf. A lack of knowledge about his respect for orders: the old Xerina would not have acted like this. It was said that she knew each member of their people personally, better than they knew themselves, and he readily believed it.

“She will soon be released by a terrorist group. We will take advantage of the situation to resolve the problem once and for all. Xerina had tasked you with handling the Xini case. So, I don’t have to elaborate further on the parameters of your mission. Be careful, because other groups are involved in the matter. In any case, Xini must not return to a prison that we do not control… Whatever the means used. Have I made myself clear?”

He nodded slightly. But what he understood did not please him. He saluted, crossing his arms over his chest, then left the room for this mission, one of the hardest of his career…

As he entered the room, he was no longer the same. This time, he saw himself as a little child again. A black guard, who was holding him in his arms, placed him on the ground. With a dull gaze, Azxaron observed the large room with its slightly subdued lighting. There were several padded benches, a few computer terminals and multiple doors leading to other areas. Several children were busy with various activities in different parts of the place. It was his first time in the capital, but he felt no excitement.

“Sit over there,” the guard ordered, “they will take care of you when someone has time.”

He obeyed and sat on the nearest bench.

The bench was a rather dark green and was located near one of the shuttered windows that filtered the light coming from outside. He guessed that between the gaps, curious children could observe a nearby laboratory and discover adults hard at work, developing the administrative technologies of the day after tomorrow.

A girl was sitting on this bench. She gave him half a Tik of attention before looking back at her tablet, frantically typing in series of codes.

No problem: he didn't want to talk to anyone.

But inactivity is something difficult for his people. His ears began to focus on the surrounding noises, picking up in particular the conversation of the black guard with a lady who seemed to take care of the place.

“His name is Azxaron and he belongs to the Xerbat clan. His parents were killed by pirates, but we were able to recover him... As you can guess, his mental state leaves a lot to be desired. Well, that's your specialty: you'll probably know what to do.”

“I'll try anyway. And the pirates?”

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Even across the room and without looking directly, Azxaron caught the guard's fierce smile.

“They died slowly… We then erased the other prisoners’ memories of our people’s presence, and left them in command of the ship.

“That’s good. Good and proper work.”

The guard turned his gaze to the rescued boy.

“It seems that the reception he’s getting isn’t the most enthusiastic.”

“Unfortunately, the children who live at the educational center aren’t the most… open. Their parents are usually dead. You see the little girl, sitting cross-legged on the same bench… oh, she’s got her back to him now: she doesn’t want to be distracted from her work by someone so close. She comes from the Xolot clan and her name is Xini… Her parents recently died in a work accident… You were on a mission, so you probably haven’t heard of it, but a dozen scientists died in the explosion of an experimental generator. They thought they could harness the principles of “I” energy to create an infinitely powerful reactor… The outer shields of their laboratory held, but not those of the containment chamber of their experiment…”

The lady shuddered, probably remembering the grim spectacle.

Azxaron pressed his ears to his skull. He didn’t want to hear any more. He wanted to curl up until he disappeared from the world… which was physically impossible, but he could still try it.

He felt someone shaking him and looked up. His neighbor, Xini, was excited. Although she hadn’t spoken to him before, she practically held her tablet over his eyes, forcing him to squint at the lines of code written on it.

“I did it!” she exulted. “My program is perfectly functional. Look… There, it’s the loop system that prevents the target from understanding that something abnormal is happening… and there, it’s the program that distills this… that we see there… and that will therefore allow to get past all the defenses… There, you see this point: it’s one of the most subtle…”

Speaking enthusiastically, she scrolled through her program from one end to the other, sometimes going back to the problem statement, then jumping to another part. She was glued to him, in such a way that he couldn’t turn his head away from what she was showing him.

It was both awkward and enjoyable, as the physical closeness reminded him of his parents' hugs... Fortunately, the little girl's energetic babbling kept him from focusing on the lost aspect of those memories.

She was smaller than him, probably younger therefore. She was still older than her sister… who had been killed by a stray shot during the pirate attack…

“Did you see? My program is perfect! Perfect!”

Once again distracted from his dark thoughts, Azxaron grimaced in annoyance as the excited girl had just sent her right ear into his face repeatedly.

“There’s a mistake,” he pointed out, manually moving the offending ear away, “it won’t work…”

“No! I checked and it will work! You’re just jealous!”

“Of… of what?”

The situation quickly escalated. Xini wouldn’t admit that there could be a mistake and didn’t give him the leisure to explain. She even started hitting him with her little fists while he insisted that she was wrong. As she raised her tablet in a threatening manner, an adult hand grabbed her wrist.

The lady was there. Without hurrying, she had approached them without them noticing her. She stared at Xini sternly but without getting angry.

“Xini,” she growled, “you're not going to hit your friend with a tablet! You're going to break it again!”

Xini lowered her ears and the tablet, sheepishly.

“And also, stop fighting with the others all the time. Azxaron has just been sent here... do you know what that means?”

That meant he had just lost his parents. Xini had looked away, then shrugged.

“Well, he should not insult my program!”

“Is it functional?”

“Yes, here!”

Xini enthusiastically handed her tablet to the lady who gently pushed it away, pointing to a nearby terminal. Jumping off the bench, the little girl trotted enthusiastically and connected her device to the machine, then launched her program. The lady approached, leading a slightly annoyed but obedient Azxaron by the hand.

A series of numbers appeared on the screen, under the captivated eyes of the three spectators. The lady nodded.

“You failed.”

“What? But it works perfectly!”

“No.”

She pointed to other data and the two young children understood immediately: the defense program had a simulation of the program to attack, where it had locked the attempted attack, while it retaliated by invading the tablet, without the latter's defense realizing it. Xini had turned pale:

“But... it's cheating!”

“Really? Yet Azxaron had understood, him.”

The young Azxaron danced from one foot to the other, uneasy. The current Azxaron found it quite amusing that the dream now allowed him to see himself from afar. Certainly, all the sound and visual perceptions of the time, coupled with a little imagination, allowed him to see these scenes from another angle.

He saw himself, under Xini’s furious gaze and the amused one of the lady, explaining:

“It was written quite clearly in the statement… Well, maybe not very clearly, but she probably forgot to reread the statement…”

The lady had congratulated him, then had gently encouraged Xini to be more attentive next time… Then, another adult had arrived, attracting attention. The lady had left them to go and talk to the newcomer.

“I hate you,” Xini had whispered, “I’ll never talk to you again!”

Vexed, she went to sit in the opposite corner of the room, furiously typing a new program on her tablet. He went to sit back down on the bench, folding his legs against his body. Once again, his ears picked up the distant conversations.

The newcomer was speaking to the lady:

“So, I tell the general that there’s no problem with his new training program?”

“Of course. Why is he asking me for permission for this: he knows better than I do.”

“Okay. Otherwise, Xzeonia is asking for your approval to release additional funds for the new defense satellites…”

“What? She went over budget again?”

A teasing smile played on the lady's lips as her eyes sparkled with mischief.

“Tell her she'll be allowed... if she volunteers to take care of the educational center for a whole month!”

“Oh, she'll probably refuse... I know it's hard to find volunteers, but...”

“Let her understand that if she refuses, the offer will be extended to two months. As I know her, she'll complain a lot, but she'll accept.”

“You could also tell her in person.”

“Hey, I'm a psycho-sociologist. The best one, even. If I tell you to deliver my message, it's because I know it'll have more effect that way. According to my estimates, Ximilia should be cured by next month. I can't spend more time here with all my obligations.”

“You could just order someone to replace you. Or make it a punishment chore.”

“We don't leave the future of our nation in forced hands.”

“Yet you're trying to force Xzeonia to accept?”

“To accept voluntarily... And then, I know she'll do a good job. She may still be very young, but she has a good sense of duty... She may be a little sneaky... I think she could nevertheless reach a high position in the coming years.”

“Couldn't we just make up for the lack of personnel with robots?”

“So that the children can take them apart?”

“Oh, by the way. Your daughter also asked me to tell you that you've been keeping the Administration ambassador waiting for about an hour standard... And that you've cut off your communicator again.”

“And you think I've forgotten that? Soon, the entire Administration will be at my feet... Making him wait is good training... and he'll be annoyed, more easily manipulated...”

“Of course. You are wisdom incarnate, Xerina.”

As the adults left the room, those words had completely shaken young Azxaron out of his stupor. Xerina? The queen herself? The one who had saved their entire people? She had come to care for mere children?

The dream blurred as he remembered his surprise at the time. He had only seen the queen occasionally after that, but that memory remained etched in his mind, clearer than all the others.